Many applications create notifications for a client in order to notify the client of an activity that may be of interest to a user or provide a message to the user. For example, some instant messaging (IM) programs running in the background of an operating environment output a notification to the user when a contact becomes available. Some email applications notify the client when a new email is received for the user. Some update programs output a notification to the client when updates to a program on the client are downloaded and are to be installed. In some cases, a user's computing system must execute a dedicated application, process, or component (a “notifier”) for each publisher in order for the user to receive notifications sent by the publishers.
The proliferation of notifications can lead to problems, however. For instance, a graphical user interface (GUI) may become cluttered with multiple notifier icons outputting user notifications. Another possibility is that the requirement for direct contact between the client and multiple publishers to deliver notifications can reduce bandwidth availability and/or increase costs to the user and the publishers. Still further, a user must configure each and every notifier application—for example, to silence all notifier applications during a period of time so as not to be interrupted during a presentation.